RIGHT! and personally I know that with nobody else in the car and therefore just bored and daydreaming I was more distracted than talking to an actual person. But I guess until they can read our thought waves they won't be able to regulate that...... BUT I still think using a regular cell phone while driving should be a BIG fine.

it is dangerous, especially texting but in Chicago cops are by far the biggest offenders. they are always on their phones. fine should be double because they should know better.

or how about when cops in my neighborhood park in either handicap spots or in front of fire hydrants while taking their 1 hr lunch break or one of their many other breaks? completely bogus double standard. the corruption runs deep

meanwhile you call to have them ticket the group of 8 rice burner punks in the alley whoare 3 min long burnouts at 3am? Ha, do you really think they are going to put down the coffee and donut?

I personally know a few CPD officers, they brag about how much downtime they have and I mentioned specific examples, they said unless someone was shot or you have called for the same issue 10 times in the last hour no one is going to come.

This is why I love accessories to wireless technology, like hands free devices!!! Press a button to talk/end or use voice commands for everything, it's not hard to do and they are cheap to buy, cheaper than a ticket.... At least Ontario hasn't banned them yet!!!!!

A few months ago, I almost got wiped out by a Fort Worth Police officer.

She whipped out in front of me like no one was there. Fortunately I was already slowing for the redlight at the next intersection.

I pulled alongside her and all I could see was the officer typing with one hand on the center mounted laptop and having a very animated conversation with a large (ie: Samsung Galaxy) smartphone pressed against her head. Looked like she was laughing.

I stayed a safe distance back. She drove about 20 over the speed limit weaving all over the lane. Anybody else doing that would have had to have perform a field sobriety test.

I am so glad you brought this up. There is so much baloney going around about cell phones, distracted driving, blah, blah, blah. What a bunch of hooey.

Now, as a patrol officer, it's your job to enforce the law, so this is not a direct criticism of you. Someone breaks the law, you are supposed to intervene. Fine.

However, it's not possible to legislate or regulate all danger out of existence. There are poor drivers who can be distracted by almost anything, or who drive poorly whether distracted or not. As long as they are given licenses, they will cause accidents. Sure, I've missed an exit because I was talking on the phone. I've also missed exits because I was listening to something on the radio, or simply deep in thought. Am I a distracted driver? Sometimes, so's everybody.

If you want to get rid of distracted driving, sure, ban phones, ban radios, ban kids in the car (talk about a distraction!), ban coffee, sodas, food, cigarettes, any sort of cargo (groceries) that can shift, ban discussion with others in the car (I've heard this one proposed), and so on. I bet if you did all of those things, the accident rate wouldn't dip very much.

Distracted driving is already illegal, regardless of the cause. If you're swerving around the freeway, or otherwise driving erratically, you should expect to attract the attention of the local gendarmes. Somewhere, there should be a line between force and personal responsibility.

Having said all that, one doesn't get to choose which laws one obeys. That's why I already have a couple of bluetooth devices, and I'm still looking for one that really works in the environments where I need one.

And yes, I see cops all the time talking on cell phones while driving patrol cars.

I agree. Bad drivers are just that. Doesn't matter what else they are doing while driving... If anything.

I actually like the police chief's attitude on this video. The mayor, however, just seems like a typical government-knows-best politician.

Yep! That's my hometown.

Mayor Dr Cluck can be a little offputting and arrogant. Arlington is a weird city. It has a bigger population than St Louis, MO or Cincinnati, OH but if you aren't an MLB or NFL fan, you have never heard of it. It's a suburb that is not a suburb.

The police are their own interesting bunch. The department requires a 4-year degree from applicants. There are very professional and dedicated cops and then there are a bunch that have a 4 year degree in "underwater basket weaving" that are just doing the job because there were no jobs in the "underwater basket weaving" field. There doesn't seem to be a middle ground there. I bet most of the distracted cop drivers were the latter.

I did not start this thread for Bitoger's to tell me I should have warned the driver. I would like to hear views from other drivers about why they text/talk while driving. Is the call or text that important?

I don't understand the allure, either. There's a reason I don't have a cell phone. I'd yank my home phone if I could get away with it, too

haha,, this is classic. They require a 4 year degree yet the officer doesn't know the correct use of 'too' in his report. Amazing!

I don't know about Arlington in particular, but in CA if a city cop is involved in a collision the CHP investigates and writes the report. It has to do with conflict of interest.

Yeah, I use the cellphone for a food to-go order, the conversation lasts about 20 seconds because I always order the same thing. If it's another type of call, either I don't answer or pull off to the side of the road. I can't concentrate enough on troubleshooting a problem over the phone if I'm driving. I tried once and realized within a few seconds that I couldn't do both.

As an aside, I'd like to be able to take a call on the train, but the inside noise level is frequently 85dB and every few minutes goes to 95dB for the autostop announcements. That isn't a good enough environment to hold a conversation.